World Sport

Creation of a world association of football leagues

Twenty three professional football Leagues from all continents met in Paris on December 1, 2015 for the second World Leagues Forum. Mr. James Johnson also attended on behalf of FIFA.

During this forum, the leagues discussed issues of common concern as well as the current situation at the FIFA level. Four of the five candidates for the FIFA presidency (Prince Ali, Sheikh Salman, Jerome Champagne and Tokyo Sexwale) came to present their views on the role of professional football leagues and their member clubs in the future governance of FIFA. On this occasion, the leagues agreed to pursue an integrated approach by creating a permanent association to formally work with FIFA on issues that impact professional football. A working group of five leagues has been established to develop the formal structure for this new association.

The group is composed of:

Enrique Bonilla, President of Liga MX (Mexico),

Don Garber, Commissioner of MLS (United States),

Mitsuri Murai, Chairman of the J League (Japan),

Christian Seifert, CEO of DFL (Germany),

Frederic Thiriez, President of the LFP (France).

This group, chaired by Frederic Thiriez, President of the French League, has been entrusted with finalizing the details for structuring the association by January 2016. –EPFL